Reading Slump--All My Fault!

[Gumshoe Carl]

It's all my fault--really.

As I have stated in other posts, 2007 hasn't been a very good one for
me as far as mystery/crime fiction is concerned. I've finally decided
it is probably me, and not the books I am reading. Now that the PhD is
behind me and I have found a new job as a college professor, I think
things will settle down for me. It's hard letting go of the past. It's
even harder going on job interviews, especially when what you really
want to do with your life is sit on a beach or big couch and read crime
fiction.

In addition, I have strayed towards books that, had I read the book
cover, I should have never purchased or attempted to read. Clue words
that I somehow missed included "children", "mafia", "organized crime",
and "hilarious", just to name a few. Okay, a few laughs along the way
are okay, but seriously, a joke every other sentence doesn't meet my
requirement. But, that's my issue--not the writer's.

For the record, I'm done with traveling for a while. I used to think 4
hours of seclusion on an airplane would be sheer bliss as I would be
forced to sit still long enough to get lots of reading done. Yesterday,
I was seated next to the 4 year old named Gabriel (read Damien), who
obviously had ingested a 5 pound bag of sugar and a gallon of high test
soda before boarding the plane. When he wasn't running to the bathroom
at the back of the plane to "drain his lizzard", he was kicking the
back of the seat, screaming, and constantly talking. Last week, I was
seated next to the snoring bear (read man) who obviously needed a
tonsilectomy and adenoidectomy. This man snored so loud that the entire
plane was laughing aloud at his cacophony of nasal music.

Hotel rooms are no better. Has anyone stayed in a hotel room lately?
The walls are so thin you can hear your neighbor turn their own book
pages and all the other noises that come with human life (read
flatulence, coughing, and some undetermined groaning). The sad part is
I agreed to all this travel, so again it is all my fault.

So this summer I'm on a mission to rekindle my love of the dark crime
novel and to find those new authors out there who will surprise me with
their creativity and introduce me to the new and different protagonist.
In addition, I hope to reconnect with those great authors like Stuart
MacBride, James Lee Burke, Jack Kerley, Jonathan King, John Hart, Laura
Lippman, Michael Connelly, and our very own Randy Hicks (hint--send
ARC!!). And I plan on staying as close to my backyard or beach chair as
possible. As Dorothy would say, "There's no place like home!!" I know
for certain that Damien and the Snoring Bear are not my neighbors!

So you see, it's all my fault! Really!

[LC Fraser]

I take it this means no trip to Hawaii before you start the new job, Prof? Professor Gumshoe. I like that. It is even better than Dr. Gumshoe. Congrats. Wish I had some great new books to recommend to you but to be honest I always end up reading after you as you are my testing zone for new. If you like it and tell me it is not too gory then chances are I will like it too. Only really new author I have read is Alex Brett. Enjoyed it, it is not a cozy but not real dark either (and certainly not funny) but not sure it is your style. Canadian, astronomy - my kind of thing. Some loose ends that I am not sure about so it would be nice to get another POV on it sometime. Anyway - congrats and all that!